One hundred fifty years ago, St. Louis made a decision that would shape the region for generations. That historic decision is now known as the Great Divorce.
The story of the split begins in the mid-1800s, when St. Louis was a growing boomtown, a time when American ambitions of westward expansion were high — so high there was even a serious proposal to move the U.S. capital from Washington, D.C., to St. Louis.
The city looked very different then. People got around by foot or horse on gravel roads. Indoor plumbing and sewers were just starting to be laid down. The urban core stretched roughly three miles west from the riverfront. And the whole area of St. Louis, all the way west to where Wildwood is today, was recognized as one big piece of land…